Glad to Have You in My Life
by yellow-umbrellas
Summary: Set after 5.20, Jerry's Retirement. Ben and Leslie talk about their future.


"What about Katie?" Ben suggested, his fingers trailing idly above the waistband of Leslie's pyjama pants.

"Mmm... Nah," Leslie mumbled, kissing the knuckles of Ben's free hand. "Maddy?"

"Maybe."

"Alex?"

Ben furrowed his brow, "My soccer coach was named Alex and I hated that guy."

"So that's a no then?"

"Yeah, that's a no."

Leslie huffed, pushing her hair back from her forehead.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" Ben asked, kissing the back of Leslie's blonde curls. They lay on the couch, a rerun of Friday Night Lights playing quietly in the background, Leslie's back against Ben's chest and cooling mugs of tea on the coffee table.

"Girl. Definitely. You?"

"A girl."

"Aww," Leslie smiled, gripping his hand tighter. She felt him smile against her hair. "You'd be such a good dad."

Ben hummed and looked at the tv for a few moments, his hands warm and large over Leslie's stomach. Part of her was nervous about the thought of a child; she felt like she would be too absorbed in work to be able to be a good mother or that her sleep schedule would only worsen after having a child (which was a fairly rational fear, considering the evidence.) But then she thought about Ben and how lucky anyone would be to have him as their father, how lucky she was to have found him and just how much he loved her, how much he would love their children and their grandchildren, nieces, nephews, their whole family.

Their family.

Lives and legacies they would watch unfold, watching their children grow up and seeing whose hair or eye colour they inherit, which hand they use to write, their firsts words and steps and breaths. Children who would be so full of love and ambition and would no doubt be good to the world.

Leslie took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember the pages of names she had written down in one of her binders. She remembered staying up later than normal, weighing all the pros and cons of each choice; how the name could be mispronounced, what nicknames that came along with them, different spellings, what the initials would be, middle names, if her mother would approve, a subcategory dedicated to whether or not she should name a girl after her mother (the answer being no.)

"Michelle," Leslie offered and Ben chewed the inside of his cheek.

"I like that name."

"Nancy?"

_"No."_

Leslie licked her lips. "Madeleine?"

"Yeah..."

"Sarah."

Suddenly Leslie felt Ben sit up straighter and heard him breath out a laugh. "I see what you're doing,"

"What?" Leslie asked, turning and sitting up to face him, her lips turned up in a small smirk.

"We are _not _naming our child after a famous political figure."

Leslie scoffed and crossed her arms. "That's not what I was doing!"

Ben raised an eyebrow at her, tilting his head to one side. "Come on."

"Fine..." She huffed tucking her hair behind her ear. "But then no weird Game of Thrones names either,"

Ben scrunched his face in disbelief. "You think I would name our child after someone from Game of Thrones?"

"Like you've never considered it," Leslie countered.

"As a _joke, maybe,"_ Ben defended and Leslie just stared at him, eyes narrowed. "Okay _fine. _ Some ground rules then?"

"I'm listening."

"No naming our child or children after any famous political figures or fictional characters."

"Deal."

"That means no Michelles, or Nancys, or Madeleines, or anything else you said before."

"I already agreed!" Leslie said, hitting him on the arm. "But that means no Lukes, or Neds, or Tyrions or-"

"You think I would name a child _Tyrion?_"

"I don't _not_ think that," Leslie teased.

"Oh my god," Ben sighed. "You're gonna pay for that one."

"Oh yeah?" Leslie smiled

"Mmhmm," he hummed, pushing her over by the shoulders back into the couch cushions and kissing her breathless. Ben hovered above her kissing down her neck and a dragging his lips over her sensitive skin just to make Leslie squirm. She kicked her legs out on reflex, her back arching as a high pitched squeak escaped her lips.

Leslie giggled and pushed at his shoulders until he relinquished and stood up, pulling her to her feet and leading her towards the bedroom.

"I can't believe you think I would do that," he mumbled and Leslie laughed.

"Honestly, that just reinforces the fact that you're gonna be an _incredible_ father."

Ben stopped just outside their bedroom door and stepped towards her, his eyes filled with compassion. Ben cupped her face in his hands, thumbs stroking her skin softly and he kissed her gently.

"You're gonna be an even better mom."


End file.
